Bluff officials review proposed master fee schedule, debate solar permit pricing and inspection costs

Bluff Town Council and the Planning & Zoning Commission reviewed proposed revisions to the town—s master fee schedule on March 20, 2025, focusing on building-permit charges, solar-permit options and how inspection costs are recovered.

Erin (staff member) told the joint meeting that "we are taking written public comment until Friday, March 28 at 5PM." She summarized the packet: the first page is the current fee schedule and later pages list proposed changes, including two permit-pricing options drawn from other Utah towns and a simplified alternative proposed by the town—s new permit technician.

The most contested topic was solar permitting. One draft ("option A") ties permit pricing to project valuation similar to other Utah municipalities; an alternative ("option B") simplifies fees with fewer calculations so applicants can more easily estimate costs. The current draft also includes a line showing a $7.50-per-array permit fee and a $65-per-inspection charge; staff and councilors questioned whether those numbers adequately cover town costs.

Staff and commissioners warned that a low base permit fee would shift more of the operational cost to the town. One staff member noted that the town currently pays roughly $18,000 a year for contracted inspection services and that inspection travel time and multiple trips can drive costs higher. Commissioners and staff proposed several adjustments: charging a single per-project fee rather than per array when multiple arrays are installed and splitting residential and commercial fee schedules to reduce burdens on homeowners while capturing more costs from larger commercial projects.

Councilors suggested alternatives and ranges discussed during the meeting: a flat $750 permit for large installations (or $750 per large project) and a residential/commercial split with sample ranges of about $200250 for residential and $300+ for commercial installations. Staff said statewide comparisons showed typical solar permit fees between $300 and $500 in other jurisdictions, and commissioners emphasized the town—s desire to encourage rooftop solar while also ensuring safe inspections.

Participants discussed inspection models: charge one up-front permit that covers plan review and inspections through project completion (the town—s preferred model), or assess lower initial fees plus per-inspection charges. Staff described current practice: a plan review followed by an assessed fee paid before the building permit is issued; inspections may be many but initial review and permit are intended to minimize later billing adjustments.

Commissioners asked the staff to clarify several items for the next draft: the town should explicitly state that large solar farms and utility-scale generation projects will be handled under the commercial/land‑use processes (and likely not under the small-scale residential/commercial solar fee line), define "array" and whether multiple installation phases on the same service count as separate projects, and add language describing when land-use clearance is required and whether that remains a separate permit or will be consolidated into the building-permit process.

The meeting closed the fee discussion by asking staff to revise the master schedule with options that: (1) use a per-project approach rather than per-array, (2) set clearer residential/commercial distinctions, and (3) include estimated inspection time/cost assumptions so the town does not subsidize routine inspections.

For public input, staff repeated the written-comment deadline of March 28 at 5 p.m. and said the revised draft would return to council for additional review before final adoption.